Saucy Charred Chicken with Veggie

Sometimes I think the food from our part of the world (Bangladesh) is really complex.

 
Jokingly, my grandmother used to say - It takes two hours to prepare, two hours to cook, ten minutes to eat and then two hours of dish-washing.

But sometimes the brain needs some rest while the heart doesn't want to compromise the taste. But we compromise at the end - one way or another. Either we eat something we don't like that much, or we order, or even we 

Sometimes, we really want to try hard to work less and eat home food (without ordering).

This was one of those dishes.

I wanted something chicken-based, saucy, maybe a little charred! 

A little sweet, a little spicy, and with enough vegetables inside so that I could pretend the whole thing was a balanced life choice. 😃 

The plan was not to make a traditional curry, not to make grilled chicken either, but something in between - chicken pieces sitting inside a thick, sticky, spicy-sweet vegetable gravy. 

So I am naming it:

😋 Saucy Charred Chicken with Veggie

The “veggie” in the title is singular, because may be the English language gives up when many vegetables enter the room 🤣 🤣.

Unfortunately, no video was possible this time either. So, as usual, I will go with photos later and a dry description now. 

Very premium laziness 🤘.

🤌🏽 Ingredients:

• Chicken 🐔 🍗  - 12 pieces (around 100/120gm each)
• Carrot 🥕 - 4 pieces, thinly sliced
• Onion 🧅 - 4 pieces, peeled, cut into 4 pieces each, then separated
• Onion paste - made from 4 onions
• Green beans  / french beans 🫛 - 150gm, cut into halves
• Ginger paste 🫚 - 3 TBSP
• Soya sauce - 3 TBSP
• Tomato ketchup - 3 spoons
• Hot salsa dip - 3 spoons
• Black pepper powder - 1 TSP
• Cardamom + cinnamon powder - 1 TSP
• Turmeric powder - 1 TSP
• Cumin powder - 1 TSP
• Mustard oil - 3 TBSP
  (Olive oil will also do, but mustard oil gives that familiar loud Bangla entry music)
• Salt 🧂 (to your taste, I never understand or comply with the measurement)

🤌🏽 Preparation:

First, I took the chicken pieces in a big mixing bowl. 

And sliced and prepared the other veggie.

Then I added the sliced carrots, separated onion pieces, onion paste, cut beans, ginger paste, soya sauce, ketchup, hot salsa dip, pepper powder, cardamom-cinnamon powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, salt and mustard oil.

beans carrots chicken

Soya Sauce

Ketchup

Cardamom + Cinamon

Cumin

Pepper

Salsa Dip

Tumeric

Salt

Mustard Oil

Then came the most important kitchen technology - hand mixing 🤚.

Ya! That's my hand ✋ 

I mixed everything properly by hand so that the chicken, vegetables, sauces, and spices became one messy but promising family. 

The mixture looked like something between a marinade, a stir-fry base, and a small vegetable protest. 

But it smelled good, and that is usually a good sign.

🤌🏽 Cooking:

In the air fryer tray, I placed aluminium foil first, then a baking sheet on top. This helped keep the whole thing manageable because this dish has sauce, onion paste, vegetables, and general enthusiasm. Without protection, the air fryer might remember this recipe forever.

Then I poured the whole mixed chicken and vegetable situation into the tray and spread it as evenly as possible.

I cooked it in normal fry mode at 200°C.

First round:

• 15 minutes at 200°C
• Then I turned the chicken pieces
• Another 15 minutes at 200°C

At this point, the chicken started getting some nice charred edges, but the bottom part still had more sauce and vegetables waiting for their moment of fame.

So I mixed things again - bringing the bottom stuff to the top and the top stuff to the bottom.

Second round:

• 15 minutes again at 200°C
• Then another turn/shuffle
• Another 15 minutes at 200°C

By now, the chicken pieces had become nicely cooked, a little charred outside, saucy around the edges, and carrying the flavour of the onion, ginger, salsa, ketchup, soya sauce, and spices.

Then, using tongs, I brought out the chicken pieces one by one.

The vegetables and gravy were still inside the tray, looking thick, oily, saucy, and not fully defeated yet. So I cooked them for another 10 minutes in the air fryer. This made the gravy thicker and helped the vegetables soften more while keeping some texture.

Finally, I mixed the chicken pieces back with the cooked gravy and vegetables.

🤌🏽 Final Result:

The result was a saucy, slightly charred chicken dish with soft onions, sweet carrots, long beans, and a thick reddish-brown gravy sitting around everything.

The soya sauce gave it depth, the ketchup and salsa gave it sweet-spicy stickiness, the mustard oil gave it a familiar sharpness, and the air fryer gave the chicken that roasted-charred attitude without needing a full grill setup.

It is not a curry.

It is not a barbecue.

It is not exactly Chinese, Bangla, Indian, or anything properly respectable.

It is just one of those home experiments that somehow works.

That's the one! ☝️ 1️⃣ 🥇 

And honestly, that is enough reason to save the recipe.